1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to automated immunoassay analyzers and, more particularly, to an automated immunoassay analyzer which provides a scientist or technician with an easily understandable presentation of all of the operations occurring within the analyzer at any time.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An immunoassay is a well known laboratory method used to determine the amount of an analyte in a sample such as plasma or urine. It is based on the interaction of antibodies with antigens, and because of the degree of selectivity for the analyte (either antigen or antibody), an immunoassay can be used to quantitatively determine very low concentrations of drugs, hormones, polypeptides, or other compounds found in a test sample. For many years, immunoassays were performed by hand by trained laboratory technicians.
Recently, many companies have begun producing automated immunoassay analyzers. Automating the immunoassay procedures has been difficult because of the large number of steps which need to be performed. For example, a sample is mixed with a reagent and a solid support having a bound antigen or antibody, the sample is incubated such that the corresponding antigen or antibody in the sample and a labelled antigen or antibody provided in the reagent can be bound to the antigen or antibody on the solid support, then the solid support is thoroughly washed and the label (fluorescent, radioactive, chemiluminescent, or the like) is detected by an appropriate mechanism, and finally the analyte of interest (antigen or antibody) is quantified from the detected label.
One of the chief stumbling blocks for performing the automated immunoassay has been the step of thoroughly washing the solid support. In immunoassays, it is essential that the free label and bound label be completely separated prior to detection of the bound label or erroneous results will occur. Many of today's automated immunoassay analyzers utilize high speed pipetting and aspirating stations for the washing operation. Pipetting and aspirating wash fluid into and out of a sample container requires a large number of mechanized parts. Moreover, it is very difficult to completely remove all sample and wash fluid from a reaction chamber via aspiration; therefore, an automated system which uses such a wash station may be subject to some detection errors.
Most of today's automated immunoassay analyzers are designed for "walk away" operation. That is, a technician loads sample containing tubes onto a carousel and presses a start button. Thereafter, the automated immunoassay analyzer mixes appropriate reagents (which are often stored on-board the analyzer) with the sample, performs incubating and washing operations, detects the label, and computes the quantity of analyte in the sample from the detected label and stored calibration curves. The entire operation is typically done under computer control, and in some automated immunoassay analyzers, bar coding is used to identify the sample under test. The results of the immunoassays are typically output onto computer paper for inspection by the technician. Hence, the technician is free to perform other functions around the laboratory while the analyzer is functioning. In addition, the immunoassays may be performed overnight without the supervision of the technician.
Since most automated immunoassay analyzers have been designed with the thought in mind that the immunoassay will be performed unattended and the results examined later, they do not optimally serve the operational needs of most scientists and technicians. That is, most scientists and technicians would like to check the operation of an instrument periodically and have an understanding of the functions being performed. Having knowledge of PG,6 some test data while the analyzer is still performing other operations on the remaining test samples, as well as an understanding of when a particular task will be finished by the analyzer, often helps scientists or technicians plan their investigations for that day. If interesting results are noted early in the morning, then the scientist or technician can channel his or her efforts immediately, rather than being required to wait until the entire batch of assays is completed. Moreover, If the scientist or technician needs to know results quickly, it would be ideal for him or her to be able to determine when an immunoassay will be completed by the analyzer and be able to prioritize certain immunoassays over others remaining to be performed.